Israel Couple Recounts Escaping Horror After Sharing a Kiss While Running from Music Festival Massacre

At least 260 people lost their life as a result of a surprise attack by Hamas terrorists at the Tribe of Nova festival in southern Israel, but a couple who luckily escaped the massacre described their horrific experience. When the catastrophe occurred on Saturday, October 7, near Re’im, east of the Gaza Strip, Amit Bar and her companion Nir were there.

Even though they were able to flee, their concern for their safety inspired them to photograph a touching moment: a kiss that could have been their last. They lost contact with their buddy Ziv who had gone to help others as they were sheltering in the woods amid the pandemonium. After the photo went viral, Amit issued an open letter to Nir on Instagram with the following message: “Until Ziv is not home, nothing is finished. It is still hard to express what we went through there without Ziv. Amit published the picture that went viral along with an open message to her spouse that she penned on Instagram. “But we are here in miracle,” she added.

“It started with rockets, it was stressful, but I still managed to encourage myself that there is a chance that it will fall on me, everything will be alright,” she said as she described the terrifying series of events. Everyone wanted to go, so we attempted to drive until the road was closed. We waited for a little while for things to settle down while sleeping to protect ourselves from harm, but as soon as it did, people began to rush and yell that there were terrorists. There, like a flock of sheep being led to the slaughter, we fled.

When missiles began to fall from Gaza, festival goers immediately realized something was wrong. Although rocket assaults were not unusual in this area, things rapidly got out of hand when terrorists on motorbikes started following the festival-goers and started shooting at them.

“You hear the bullets whistling next to us and people just fall,” Amit remembered. “And the f***ing terrorists behind us are circling everywhere on motorcycles just trying to kill.” As everyone kept quiet to avoid the Hamas militants, they found themselves separated from their buddy Ziv, who had hidden away, making it difficult to cry out for him.

Nir suggested shooting a photo to document this “scary moment,” since he was doubtful of their survival at the time. Amit, who was originally baffled by the suggestion, eventually consented after realizing that it may serve as a memento for their families, illustrating their unwavering commitment to one another.

“You protected me in your body,” Amit finished, “and I’m thinking of all the other couples with a different ending than ours.” She also wished for Ziv’s safe return.

Over 900 fatalities have been confirmed so far, making the massacre one of the worst assaults on Israeli citizens in the country’s history. At least 260 Israelis were killed in the atrocity.